Children Injured In Automobile Accidents

• Posted on: Feb 1 2016
• By: adminjeff
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Children, unfortunately, are commonly injured in automobile accidents. Injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of accidental death in children. Dr. Jeff J. Mollins, practicing in Brooklyn for almost 30 years, has successfully treated injured children (involved in accidents) for most of his career. Dr. Mollins has treated injured children as young as six months old.

Children passengers who are involved in auto accidents frequently suffer injuries without showing any overt symptoms. This fact is often overlooked after an accident, simply because the child simply does not complain of pain symptoms or because an infant or toddler is unable to communicate their symptoms to their parent. Symptoms such as irritability, lethargy, poor feeding and restlessness may be the only evidence that a young infant has suffered injuries. In older children who are better to communicate, symptoms may include fatigue, headache, neck pain or restricted range of motion.

Injuries suffered in an auto accident can cause spinal problems in children which may not be evident for months or, in some cases, years after the incident. But worse than this, children may have suffered significant spinal injuries which need immediate attention but which remain hidden due to the inability of children to communicate their symptoms. Remember all children (whether you think they are injured or not) who are involved in a motor vehicle accident MUST see Dr. Mollins (or any physician) immediately. A thorough and careful evaluation of each child involved in a motor vehicle accident is essential to detect spinal problems which can have long-term consequences to their health.

Dr. Mollins typically performs a detailed, thorough orthopedic and neurologic evaluation on each child. This examination specifically includes a detailed examination of the child’s nervous system to rule out any possible spinal cord damage. Dr. Mollins is well aware that young children are more likely to suffer spinal cord and nerve damage than they are to fracture vertebrae or injure the ligament structures which hold the spinal vertebrae together. Dr. Mollins will focus his neurological evaluation on cranial and peripheral nerves, for motor and sensory deficits. In very young infants, evaluation of the primitive reflexes also will provide additional information of the status of the nervous system.

As a spinal specialist, Dr. Mollins is trained to provide an accurate and thorough examination of the spine and nervous system and to evaluate if an infant or child has suffered any injuries as a result of an auto accident. The danger of parents ignoring this possibility can lead either to short term effects on their health or long term problems with premature spinal degeneration, or both. The long term costs of ignoring the need for a child’s spinal examination can be significant and may destine the child to future neck pain, stiffness, spinal instability, headaches and other associated neurological problems.

Posted in: Auto Accident Doctor, Blog